New Delhi, Aug 28 (IANS) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday hailed the socio-economic gains from the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), crediting Prime Minister Narendra Modi for conceiving the world's largest banking initiative in history. "Exactly 11 years ago today, for the financial inclusion of the poor, women, farmers, and deprived sections, Modi ji launched the world's largest banking initiative in history, the 'Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana'," said HM Shah on the anniversary of the scheme.

He said, in a post on X, "Through #11YearsOfJanDhan, a historic effort was made to connect a large section of the country to banking facilities, which had been deprived of it for decades." HM Shah highlighted that today, more than 56 crore Jan Dhan beneficiaries, including nearly 56 per cent women, are directly benefiting from various government schemes such as banking, insurance, and pension, and are engaged in achieving the goal of a developed and self-reliant India. Earlier, PM Modi said that the scheme has enhanced dignity and empowered people to script their own destiny.

He took to his social media platform, X and said, "When the last mile is financially connected, the entire nation moves forward together. That is exactly what the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana achieved. It enhanced dignity and gave people the power to script their own destiny. 11YearsOfJanDhan." According to a government factsheet, over 67 per cent of the PMJDY accounts are located in rural or semi-urban areas, while 56 per cent of the accounts were opened by women. "The PMJDY has been one of the major channels for delivering benefits under various schemes using Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), providing credit facilities, social security, and enhancing savings and investments," Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.

The scheme has also issued 38 crore RuPay cards, playing a major role in increasing digital transactions to 22,198 crore in 2024-25. The number of RuPay card transactions at PoS and e-commerce has increased from 67 crore in FY 2017-18 to 93.85 crore in FY 2024-25, the government said in a release. In line with PM Modi's vision of every household having a bank account and every adult having insurance and pension coverage, saturation drives are being conducted nationwide, said Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary.

The campaigns will run till September 30 to expand the reach of PMJDY. "At least one camp will be held in each of the 2.7 lakh gram panchayats in the country where eligible persons can open PMJDY accounts, enrol under Jansuraksha schemes, and also do their re-KYC and update nominations in their bank accounts," the minister said. "We have achieved near saturation in bank accounts, and there has been a continuous increase in insurance and pension coverage across the country," he added. Notably, the total deposit balances under PMJDY accounts have reached Rs 2,67,756 crore, while the number of accounts has increased three-fold, and the total deposits have grown by approximately 12 times.